Spanish Socialists fail in bid for power

MADRID — Spanish Socialist leader Pedro Sánchez on Wednesday failed in his first attempt to become prime minister after a heated debate in which the main parties came out fighting in anticipation of fresh elections.

There were 219 votes against Sánchez’s candidacy and 130 votes in favor.

Sánchez will have a second chance on Friday to break the political deadlock that resulted from inconclusive elections in December. If he fails again, he will become the first politician not to become prime minister after an investiture procedure in Spain’s recent history. If neither Sánchez nor another candidate manages to form a coalition within two months, Spain will go to the polls again on June 26.

The parliament’s investiture session, which started Tuesday and finished Wednesday evening, also showed that the most fragmented parliament in modern Spain was a long way from forming a new government, as the parties continued the blame game that started after the elections.

Sánchez called for “ideological interbreeding” in his speech Tuesday, explaining that neither the left nor the right had enough votes to rule on their own and defending his agreement with Ciudadanos, which involves €7 billion in subsidies for the poor, broad anti-corruption measures and an overhaul of public administration.

Sánchez attacked Rajoy’s tenure as prime minister, accusing him of lacking the courage to try to form a coalition, but he mainly focused on the costs of Podemos’ rejection of a Socialist prime minister.

“Mariano Rajoy’s hope today is called Pablo Iglesias,” he said.

However, Sánchez offered an olive branch to Iglesias, saying they should set aside their differences. “Even the worst of the measures in our agreement is better than the situation we have with the current government,” he said.

Fiery exchanges

Rajoy was in a caustic mood, mocking Sánchez’s attempt to become prime minister.

“Instead of seriously trying to build a coalition,” he said, the Socialist leader had “taken a personal promotion month” and delivered “promises with empty hands.”

In a fiery speech that contrasted with his softened tone during the election campaign, Iglesias slammed business leaders for calling for a grand coalition of PP and PSOE, hammered the PSOE for kneeling down to the country’s “oligarchy” and demanded that Sánchez break his agreement with Ciudadanos in order to form a leftist coalition with the help of Catalan pro-independence forces.

“The architecture of globalization daily humiliates popular sovereignty,” he said, adding: “If oligarchies are so concerned about keeping their puppets in office, this means government is really important.”

Sánchez after his speech, applauded by members of the Spanish parliament | Getty Images

Ciudadanos leader Albert Rivera was in a calmer mood, although he talked up the many corruption cases involving members of Rajoy’s PP and said the acting prime minister was not qualified to lead the country in a time of reform, while at the same time appealing to PP MPs to support his agreement with the PSOE.

“No one is going to win here, we are all going to need to give in,” Rivera said.

The coalition between Rivera and Sánchez seemed solid, as both leaders praised each other, defended their agreement and teamed up to both attack and seek the support of PP and Podemos.

However, it is highly unlikely that they will win the support they seek before Friday, with new elections the most likely outcome.

Mario Fernández

This is completely false. Just because Podemos and the PP both voted against PSOE-C’s DOESN’T mean they’re in an alliance.

What’s worse is that this is EXACTLY the kind of deceit being fed by the socialists. Diego Torres should cover this article in a more honest way…unless he’s trying to ¨sell¨ the new coalition to the European public.

Posted on 3/3/16 | 9:50 AM CET

Filippo

@mario
If podemos had acted in a more reasonable way they wouldn’t have any new coalition to sell. We were waiting for a new spanish government to join Italy in our fight to german austerity and all we had is two perfect idiots kissing in the assembly hall.